Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Ides of...Fairies?

Snippet of F.D. Bedford's "Peter Flew In"
Once again we have come to the Ides of March.
Shakespeare has a soothsayer tell Caesar to beware this date.

Well, it always makes me think of (Kel surpsise!) a line in Barrie as well:

‘Ware Tinker Bell.

Yes, folks, be afraid of her. She’s a nasty, conniving, jealous silly ass. Not always, naturally. But nevertheless, I do make sure to point out to people who love her because she is a “sweet & cute little fairy” that this is a bit of a misconception. I don’t think it’s a secret that I’m not very fond of Tink. I’m sorry, I just don’t like her. Barrie’s or otherwise. Unlike Pan, who can be thought of as having been deeply wounded by the world, she has no excuses for her behavior other than her own petty desires. (Not that I’m really defending Peter Pan’s conduct!)

And to be fair, I suppose I shouldn’t just pick on Tinker Bell. One could just as easily say:

‘Ware fairies.
"If the fairies see you," they warned her, "they will mischief you, stab you to death or compel you to nurse their children or turn you into something tedious, like an evergreen oak."

Well, at least beware Barrie fairies!

3 comments:

Danielle Filas said...

For whatever reason, I read this in my head as "Were" as in were-wolf. were-fairies. Now I want them.

(legruli)

Peter Von Brown said...

HA!
Then you shall have them.
For the NeverWorld harbors all manner of the imagination. So Werefairies must exist. I can't say for sure in which upcoming novel they will appear, but their arrival is certain.

What a delightfully horrible notion - tiny winged werewolves nipping about all around you!

Peter Von Brown said...

And yes... I am aware that the "were" part of "werewolf" means "man" so going by the actual word, "werefairy" would be a wo/man who turns into a fairy...
but a werewolf fairy is much more interesting to me. Perhaps the misnomer will work its way into the story, say Amy commenting on it. Not sure, just pointing out I am a-wer. ;)